LITTLE ROCK (2/25/12) - A
pair of free throws by UALR's Tramar Sutherland broke a 60-60 tie with 0.8 seconds
left on the clock giving the host Trojans a 62-60 win over the Arkansas State
men's basketball team in their regular-season finale Saturday at the Jack
Stephens Center.

The Red Wolves will now
enter the Sun Belt Tournament as the No. 9 seed and will face the No. 8 seed
Florida Atlantic next Saturday at 6 p.m. in Hot Springs. ASU wraps the regular
season with a 12-19 overall mark and a 6-10 league record. UALR earned the
Western Division title with the win improving to 15-15 with a 12-4 league mark.

ASU through the entire
second half until a layup by D'Andre Williams with 37-seconds remaining tied
the game at 60-60. Junior guard Marcus Hooten took a final shot at the basket
with just seconds left on the clock, but his shot fell short and into the hands
of UALR's Chuck Guy, who fed Sutherland with less than a second remaining.
Hooten, who was defending on the play, was then whistled for the foul as
Sutherland attempted his last-second shot.

Hooten led the Red Wolves in
the contest with 18 points, while also pulling down four rebounds. Junior guard
Trey Finn was the only other ASU player in double-digits scoring 12. Finn also
collected two rebounds, which made him the 23rd player in Arkansas
State history to record 500 career rebounds.

Peterson added nine points
and had eight rebounds and four blocked shots to lead ASU in both categories.

ASU
led by 10 in the first half when Hooten laid the ball in with 2:57 remaining in
the frame. The Red Wolves maintained the lead through the rest of the half and
took a 30-24 advantage into the locker room at the break.

ASU
also outrebounded UALR 19-14 in the half and converted eight offensive rebounds
into 13-second chance points. The Red Wolves also shot 41.4% from the floor
(12-29) and converted all four free throw attempts in the frame.

A
three-pointer by Finn gave ASU it's largest lead of the game, 39-27 with 16:25
left in the second half. William's hit a layup with 15:21 left in the game to
cut the lead back to single-digits for the Red Wolves, where it remained until
the final seconds.

"One
thing our team has done is it continues to play," said ASU head coach John
Brady. "We defended well the first half, the second half they got their field
goal stat up. We shot the last shot a little early, we had a couple of crucial
turnovers there at the end. But our team keeps playing, they are tough, they
have tremendous amount of character, they come to practice every day and work
hard and I like our team."

ASU
shot 41.7% from the field in the contest connecting on 20-48 shots. The Red
Wolves also hit 17-20 of their free throw attempts for a season-high 85%.

UALR
shot 48.7% in the game on 24-50 attempts from the floor. ASU finished the game
with a 31-29 rebounding advantage and a 15-10 advantage in second-chance points.